Video: Justin Amash’s bitter victory speech

posted at 11:21 am on August 6, 2014 by Allahpundit

Actually, the bitter part is just a minute or two from a longer speech but it’s not often the phrase “you’re a disgrace” pops up when a candidate’s accepting his party’s nomination. In fairness to him, his opponent did play some awfully hard hardball with him during the campaign. Watch the second clip below to see how hard. Amash took it personally in part because he’s Arab-American and perceived some race-baiting in the Al Qaeda comparison. I don’t know if that’s true — he’s not the first NSA critic to be accused of enabling terrorism (ahem) — but I find it interesting that he and Rand Paul are willing and sometimes eager to call their critics out by name, even, as here, in a victory speech. From what I saw of him on the trail, Ron Paul didn’t do much of that; it may be that the new generation of libertarians in Congress, seeing how leery mainstream conservatives are about Ron Paul, has decided that they need to be aggressive in counterpunching to protect their own mainstream viability. Rand takes jabs from big-name Republicans like Christie, Rick Perry, and even Ted Cruz all the time but offhand I can’t remember one instance where he’s let the criticism go unanswered. Which makes sense: If pols like him and Amash are fighting to move the Overton window towards libertarianism, why let a roundhouse like “friend of Al Qaeda” pass without mention, even on election night?

The fun starts in the first clip at around 3:00. He mentions Pete Hoekstra, by the way, because Hoekstra’s a former head of the House Intelligence Committee, a firm NSA supporter, and thus naturally someone who endorsed Amash’s opponent. He was one of the bigger political names in Michigan to get behind the establishment’s effort to unseat Amash this year. Oh well.

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If you lived with some of them, you’ll understand. Otherwise, you won’t.

jim56 on August 6, 2014 at 1:39 PM

No, I wouldn’t, since I don’t see how you can possibly extrapolate your anecdotal experience living with a few people to make any informed conclusion about an entire religious sect, unless you are some kind of bigot. Which, to be fair, you probably are, based on your own comments.

Thank you for the compliment on my immigration stance. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you around on Amash. Quite frankly, I can’t understand how others have “won” the debate, having offered exactly one “yes” vote on one piece of legislation as support for their position, a vote which he immediately backtracked on. I’ve offered proof, from Amash’s own Facebook page, that he disavowed that vote, but I guess it is not enough.

You folks that support Amash have no idea who this guy. He is a clone of Obama. He refused to de-fund Planned Parenthood from doing abortions with public money, he refused to vote to stop Iran from getting nukes, he refused to vote to support innocent civilians being protected from islamist rockets in Israel, he is anything but a libertarian or a conservative. How y’all can be so duped as to vote for Obama II is mind boggling

georgealbert on August 6, 2014 at 1:36 PM

Maybe your mind would be less boggled if you actually read the rebuttals that other commenters have made to Joseph K’s assertions, which are largely the same as yours.

And frankly, I *want* a GOP that will hold a grudge going forward. I *want* them to destroy the Democrats, rub their faces in it, then spend every day both fixing the problems the Democrats have subjected us to, and taking steps to make sure the Democrats *never* gain power again.

But they wont. They continually help things ratchet leftward, then gain power and play nice and pu$$yfoot around (while still helping things slide leftward) until out of power again, etc.

F*ck them all.

Midas on August 6, 2014 at 1:29 PM

I prefer more civility in the public sector. Maybe it’s my age. Who knows. But that point aside, it’s a poor strategic move on Amash’s part. That was my original point. He got up there and gave a personal and emotional speech that revealed how fragile he really is. It was honest and it was from the heart. I love that about him. He seems like an honest guy. But I already liked Amash. You don’t have to convert the choir. It’s the skeptics and the critics that you need to convert, and you won’t do that with a speech like this. If anything, speeches like this only isolate you more and more. Sure, you may be popular amongst the people who’ve always supported you but districts change and populations shift. If he wants to hold his position, gain new ground, or advance his career, then he needs to be less divisive, not more.

It’s hard to be a good loser but it’s not hard to be a good winner. This guy has no class.

Amash supports decreased U.S. military spending to help balance the federal budget. He believes there is significant waste in the military spending of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Amash joined 104 Democrats and 16 Republicans in voting against the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).[29] Amash called it “one of the most anti-liberty pieces of legislation of our lifetime”.[30] Amash has co-sponsored an amendment to the NDAA that would ban indefinite military detention and military trials so that all terror suspects arrested in the United States would be tried in civilian courts.

Closing gitmo is just plain stupid as is banning military trials for enemy combatants.

You realize that Amash is from the WEST side of the state, where there are virtually no Muslims, right?

Also, do you know that he is a Palestinian CHRISTIAN? He is not Muslim. Not that the Muslims in Dearborn are the problem with Dearborn. That would be the newly transplanted drug dealers and home invaders.

If you lived with some of them, you’ll understand. Otherwise, you won’t.

jim56 on August 6, 2014 at 1:39 PM

No, I wouldn’t, since I don’t see how you can possibly extrapolate your anecdotal experience living with a few people to make any informed conclusion about an entire religious sect, unless you are some kind of bigot. Which, to be fair, you probably are, based on your own comments.

RINO in Name Only on August 6, 2014 at 1:54 PM

Thanks for admitting your ignorance. BTW, you’ll notice I wrote “most”, not “all”.

Be glad he beat his CofC opponent if you wish, but based on these statements and his willingness to backtrack after the Ronulan blowback he got, it doesn’t seem likely to me that his sole objection to the Iron Dome vote was fiscal.

You realize that Amash is from the WEST side of the state, where there are virtually no Muslims, right?

8 weight on August 6, 2014 at 2:44 PM

Oh sorry, my mistake. I guess they don’t need this mosque then. Or this one. Or the three other mosques mentioned here, at a link I already posted. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve already cried “uncle”. You all have proved that I was wrong about Amash.

Oh, and thank you for pointing out that Amash is a Christian. As we all know, Middle Eastern Christians are great friends of Israel.

I always call for humility in victory. And the bitterness aside, Justin seemed fairly humble.

But I would have advised him to let him to let it go. Victory yells much louder…

JohnGalt23 on August 6, 2014 at 11:32 AM

I would too, normally, but given the establishment’s utter and open disdain for conservatives and everything they stand for (well, when someone tries to remove them from power, at the very least), a victory allows for the platform and moral authority to put them on blast in front of the electorate. If you want them to stop fighting so hard, they need to be demoralized whenever they suffer key losses. Rub it in.

I think the biggest problem that libertarians and those in the tea party have politically is that they don’t give away enough free stuff.

Everyone wants to know: “What free stuff are you gonna give me!?”

Libertarians and tea partiers don’t have a good answer to that question. They don’t give subsides to big business which will help them with the Chamber of Commerce. They don’t give free stuff to unions. They don’t give food stamps or cell phones or ethanol grants or birth control or college grant expansions or entitlement boosts. They might even question handing over a measly hundred million dollars to Israel for a worthwhile gift like Iron Dome.

You need money for ads, and if you can’t offer free stuff, you’re not likely to get many campaign contributions, because what can you really offer these groups asking for stuff in return?

Two big flaws with this speech — First, Amash just showed the public that he holds a grudge. That’s not something you want out of a public servant. Most of our politicians agree to bury the hatchet in order to unify the public.

ConservOvrGOP on August 6, 2014 at 12:41 PM

No, a good number of politicians actually do carry grudges and end up trying to get back at the people who they think wronged them. They just don’t talk in public about their grudges.

Justin Amash is 100% pro-life. That’s what everyone tells me. 100%. That’s why he joined 161 Democrats, one of 7 Republicans, to oppose HR 3541, which would have prohibited sex-selective abortions. Why? Well, as far as I can tell, Amash, being 100% pro-life, thinks that he should oppose all legislation that does not completely prohibit abortion. Also, HR 3541 was really hate-crime legislation, and Republicans hate that.

this comments section is great; the GOP RINOs have their swords out and sharpened for Amash and Rand. just one question, when you vote for Hillary in 2016, will you vote straight Democrat ticket? or only at the national level?

Sorry, but the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act isn’t a slight amendment of anything. I guess you could call it a renewal as due to the absence of a formal treaty with Israel, Congress needs to pass laws reaffirming Israel as a strategic ally and authorizing the funds and the military systems development operations.

Amash has always voted FOR bills that affirm Israel as a strategic ally, that assist its military capacity to and pledge assistance in case of necessity. He’s explicit stated that Israel is our closest friend in a very troubled region. Our national defense benefits from Israel’s ability to defend itself and to serve as a check against neighboring authoritarian regimes and extremist.

To disregard that because he voted against a measure allowing additional spending that wasn’t offset with spending cuts – just like he does with bills that would fund Americans affected by hurricanes, for example – comes across as misleading.

I wonder if you’d claim the same if instead of being of being a Syrian Christian he was a German Christian with the exact same voting record. Do you also think Mark Sanford is anti-Israel?

Debbie Schlussel is a crackpot who would call anyone who voted against the additional funding for the Iron Dome anti-Israel just like those liberals who call anti-American to anyone who voted against additional spending on catastrophe relief. The simple fact she believes the reason PP receives federal funding and conservative websites don’t is because PP is mentioned by name on congressional legislation shows how seriously she can be taken.

Justin Amash is 100% pro-life. That’s what everyone tells me. 100%. That’s why he joined 161 Democrats, one of 7 Republicans, to oppose HR 3541, which would have prohibited sex-selective abortions. Why? Well, as far as I can tell, Amash, being 100% pro-life, thinks that he should oppose all legislation that does not completely prohibit abortion. Also, HR 3541 was really hate-crime legislation, and Republicans hate that.

Joseph K on August 6, 2014 at 5:37 PM

Seems like you had to bring a new one after having the PP and NPR nonsense refuted.

You misrepresent Amash reasons to oppose the bill by leaving out his entire reasoning.

The fact is that HR 3541 wouldn’t have stopped or criminalized a single abortion – constitutionality considerations aside, people could just declare their motive to abort wasn’t gender bias. It wasn’t written or introduced with that purpose. And as he also said, it’s a hate-crime bill that criminalizes motive.

Moreover, HR 3541 wasn’t introduced with the intention of actually passing. It was introduced under “suspension of the rules”, which means it’d need 2/3s to pass – it was 100% political gamesmanship with the objective of scoring political points against Democrats. As I wrote before, I often find his [Amash] reasoning too sanctimonious and impractical. Personally I have no problem with this kind of plot – better yet, I do have a problem but Democrats do it all the time and I’m not in favor of unilateral disarmament.

But voting against a bill that was entirely about scoring political points, that was substantively a hate-crime bill, just because it was nominally pro-life doesn’t make one any less pro-life.

Would have I have voted for HR 3541? Yes. Does that mean I’d consider myself more pro-life than Amash? No.

District of Columbia Respect for Life and Conscience Act of 2012:
Requires minors in DC to receive their parents’ consent before having an abortion, prohibits non-doctors from performing abortions, and provides conscience protections for individuals and health care facilities in DC that refuse to perform abortions.

Additional pro-life bills he has cosponsored:

H R 217, Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act:
Prohibits all funds from Title X (reproductive and family health funds) of the Public Health Service Act from going to any entity that performs abortions.

H R 361, Abortion Non-Discrimination Act of 2011:
Prohibits government entities from discriminating against organizations that refuse to perform abortions.

H R 3803, District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act:
Bans abortions in DC if the baby is 20 weeks old or older.

He’s one of the most active congressmen on pro-life issues (and unlike you claim, it’s quite obvious by going through the record he has no problem authoring/support/sponsor bills that don’t completely ban abortion as long as they improve the pro-life position). Voting against a showboating bill that was introduced to fail and would actually criminalize motives and not abortion (only nominally, because in practice it’d be a nothingburger) doesn’t make him any less pro-life.

Justin Amash is 100% pro-life. That’s what everyone tells me. 100%. That’s why he joined 161 Democrats, one of 7 Republicans, to oppose HR 3541, which would have prohibited sex-selective abortions. Why? Well, as far as I can tell, Amash, being 100% pro-life, thinks that he should oppose all legislation that does not completely prohibit abortion. Also, HR 3541 was really hate-crime legislation, and Republicans hate that.

Joseph K on August 6, 2014 at 5:37 PM

What part of his reasoning do you dispute? For the benefit of others, here is his explanation in full, from the link you provided:

When did Republicans start supporting hate-crime legislation? Hate-crime bills, like H R 3541, are apparently okay if they have to do with a baby’s gender but not okay if they have to do with a person’s skin color or sexual orientation. Or maybe they’re okay if it’s an election year and Republicans are trying to make the President look like he doesn’t care about women. I am appalled and outraged that we would take an issue as sacred as life and use it so cynically as a political weapon.

Republicans, and especially conservatives, should oppose abortion. Period. H R 3541 criminalizes the MOTIVE for getting an abortion. In other words, it keeps all abortions legal except those obtained for the “wrong” reasons. But ALL abortions are wrong. And criminalizing motive makes this simply another hate crime. Literally the only difference between a legal and an illegal abortion under the bill is whether the “abortion is sought based on the sex or gender of the child.”

The bill also shockingly makes it a crime for a medical or mental health professional NOT to turn in someone who they SUSPECT of having committed this thought crime. They can be thrown into prison for a year if they don’t “report known or suspected violations . . . to appropriate law enforcement authorities.” Free societies do not criminalize inaction.

I’m pro-life, and I think all abortion should be illegal. But Congress should not criminalize thought. And this bill won’t stop a single abortion if it becomes law. Every person seeking an abortion simply will sign a form stating her motive is not the sex of the baby. Those of us who are pro-life should demand more from Congress. While we waste time on stuff like this, genuine legislation to protect life is ignored.

Seems pretty reasonable to me, and quite articulate as well. What am I missing?

Joana, I am impressed with your knowledgeable support of Justin Amash. Believe me, I am pleased that he is 100% Pro Life, as he and his supporters put it. I am pleased to see that he has put his signature to anti-abortion legislation.

But I must ask, isn’t the default conservative position to be 100% Pro-Life? I mean, to describe someone this way implies that he or she is somewhat better than most, if not all, of the competition. Now according to the National Right To Life Committee, which has a dog in this fight, 229 out of 242 House Republicans have a 100% rating. Justin Amash is not one of them. His rating is 62%. So, compared to an average Democrat, Justin Amash just might be 100% Pro Life. Compared to the average Republican, he is 62% Pro Life.

I am also glad that Justin is a great friend to Israel. Therefore, I can completely disregard this.

Amash is my Congressman and I won’t be voting for him. His speech last night is a clear glimpse of the man many of us here know first hand. Thin skinned and arrogant. Why anyone thinks this is the stuff that is going to build the coalitions necessary to turn this wreck around escapes me.

And frankly, I *want* a GOP that will hold a grudge going forward. I *want* them to destroy the Democrats, rub their faces in it, then spend every day both fixing the problems the Democrats have subjected us to, and taking steps to make sure the Democrats *never* gain power again.

F*ck them all.

Midas on August 6, 2014 at 1:29 PM

Well…there it is. I don’t begrudge Amash his grudge, and I share your admiration for conservative grudges in general. Specifically, let’s work for a better world, one where the Tea Party pisses on the Democrat liberals by first destroying their ideological Little Sisters, the GOP RINOs.

When Utah re-elected Orange Hatch, they made a terrible mistake. He’s a liberal jackass with zero ties to Utah — he is exactly what is wrong with the Senate, a D.C. lifer who no longer represents anyone but Orange Hatch. And there are dozens of scumbag GOP Senators just like him.

Look at the thread comments. It’s an embarrassment at best and would be offensive to a lot of voters.

Good point. I jus saw a cringeworthy one by some tool who was ranting and raving about old white men.

You do realize the American voter demographic isn’t a bunch of rightwing ideologues living in some white bread rural backwater??Some days, it’s like Deliverance meets Duck Dynasty here at HotAir.

Toocon on August 6, 2014 at 11:32 PM

Are you for real? Do you read your comments before you submit them?

Here’s some advice for the future. Before you hit “submit”, ask yourself the following question:

“Is my comment obscenely hypocritical and/or self-contradictory?”

If the answer is “yes”, then instead of posting it, delete it, and depending on the level of incoherence or hypocrisy, consider smacking yourself in the head, to discourage yourself from further incidents.

For example, if you catch yourself whining about how offensive the comments are in the exact same sentence that you denigrate “old white men”, you’ve probably found yourself a delete/smack situation.

“Stay classy” – God I am sick of this cliche, especially as it’s taken from a Will Ferrell film of all things. Try dipping your toe in a somewhat deeper body of intellectual water than that puddle.

And why should the victor turn nice guy after being pummeled for months? Those conciliatory victory speeches are a cliche unto themselves. The jackals known as campaign consultants and managers deserve to be pulled into the light where we can see exactly how ugly in thought and deed they are.

People still hate Nixon for calling things by their proper name – his clarity of thought and expression catapulted him to multiple high political offices while his critics and opponents claimed he had no real connection to the voters. Meanwhile, the voters proved them wrong.

It is inconsistent, if not hypocritical, to demand conservatives/libertarians play offense and then condemn them when they do. We will never have the press on our side so we can at least coopt their airwaves when they are forced to cover election results and speeches.

I have the distinct impression you hand out lots of unsolicited advice and then get a little cranky when no one listens to you.

So, first you whine about the comments at large being offensive (while simultaneously disparaging elderly white men). Then, when called on it, you double down. At no time do you actually specify which comments had you so upset.

Finally, when I point out the absurdity of your argument, you chastise me for offering you unsolicited advice. This is a rather intriguing perspective from someone who just popped in to give an unsolicited (and incoherent) criticism of the entire discussion – a discussion to which 50 or so different people, maybe more, have contributed.

Little wonder that the GOP can barely win elections no matter how badly the Dems are screwing up the country.

Toocon on August 7, 2014 at 7:18 AM

Yes, that must be it.

Here’s some more unsolicited advice, which you desperately need to hear. You are making an @ss of yourself. If you actually care about not having the democrats screw up the country, and you have a substantive criticism, then make it. Specify what comments you find problematic, and elaborate. Otherwise, people will get the idea that you are concern trolling.

It’s hard to be a good loser but it’s not hard to be a good winner. This guy has no class.
V7_Sport on August 6, 2014 at 2:38 PM

It was the wrong time for the speech. A loose cannon moment

Also, do you know that he is a Palestinian CHRISTIAN? He is not Muslim. Not that the Muslims in Dearborn are the problem with Dearborn. That would be the newly transplanted drug dealers and home invaders.
8 weight on August 6, 2014 at 2:44 PM

I lived in or around Dearborn most of the last 15 years. There is a big problem in Dearborn. Don’t carry a Christian sign near the arab street festival or you might get stoned, spit on, and then arrested. An atheist pro civil rights friend attended the speech in front of city hall by the preacher who threatened to burn the Koran. The crowd was ugly. Friend saw some men she knew in the crowd trying to rush the police line. She asked the men why they were there: “they told us at the mosque the Jews paid him to do this” I and friends have had this experience: Go into an ethnic store and see bad produce. Customers come in speaking arabic, and the good stuff is brought out from the back, for them, not us. If someone thinks Dearborn does not have a problem, go speak up for the Jews. It is great not to live in Dearborn anymore, lovely homes not withstanding, to be able to speak freely and be treated equally

Of course, I have seen the black al qaeda flag flying on a car where I now live, and I saw one in the window of the neighbor of a local friend. Dearborn is expanding its influence

Debbie Schlussel is a crackpot who would call anyone who voted against the additional funding for the Iron Dome anti-Israel … joana on August 6, 2014 at 6:34 PM

Schlussel is an angry woman, who also posts a lot of accurate information the politically correct crowd will not touch. She has reported a lot on local pols, and insider deals that no one else wants to touch. Therefore she provides a public service. I rate facts higher than opinions

Looking at comments on this thread, it’s easy to understand how the GOP is turning into a party of old white guys that shoot first and ask questions later.

Amish is a young guy. That shoots down the theory – entagor at 9:13 AM

Not at all. Amash was opposed by the GOP elite in Michigan and elsewhere simply for not being a crony Republican in favor of eternal war and the GOP’s preferred flavor of big government and the hysterics of the national security state. And he was tarred and feathered during the process. Now his scumbag opponent wants to make nice and the Right blogosphere just happens to focus on that, as though Amash has no right to speak out on some very personally insulting campaign ads that were run against him.

Amash was the victim of a scurrilous campaign funded by deep-pocket GOP elite elements to label him a terrorist sympathizer because he won’t carry water for the military-industrial complex, Big Ag, Big Pharma, etc.

Typical crap post from some HA anonymous raghead dipsh!t writer who thinks that just because he writes a name in his (her?) article that we are supposed to know the candidate, his party, state, position he is running for, etc. You know, like USEFUL INFORMATION A REAL WRITER MIGHT PUT IN AN ARTICLE!

Allahpuke – you suck as a writer, and I have to wonder why TownHall doesn’t just fire your worthless ass. Your only contribution is to dumbdown HA. (And that is getting harder to do every day.)

Looking at comments on this thread, it’s easy to understand how the GOP is turning into a party of old white guys that shoot first and ask questions later.

Toocon on August 6, 2014 at 10:17 PM

Amish is a young guy. That shoots down the theory

entagor on August 7, 2014 at 9:13 AM

Not at all. Amash was opposed by the GOP elite in Michigan and elsewhere simply for not being a crony
Toocon on August 7, 2014 at 9:25 AM

Heh you missed my joke

You are correct, the Country Club hates him; however, In his speech, Amish was acting like the Chamber of Commerce

The problem with the Chamber crowd, white or not, is their public announcements against their enemies in the party.

“You had the audacity to try and call me today after running a campaign that was called the nastiest in the country. I ran for office to stop people like you.”

He read the Chamber script at the moment he had the biggest audience

It backfired on the Chamber. They created permanent enemies. IMHO either the Chamber is buck stupid, or they thought the cause was so lost, they were going up Pork Chop Hill with full bayonets.

I am glad the Club did not win. The Club is destroying the party to save it. However, Amish did not perform well. Politics is soundbites. The Chamber will not be swayed, but Amish created ragebites instead of soundbites

He was baited with the race card. He would have gained more by ignoring it. The race card is despicable, but talking about it makes the jaundiced public fear a counter play – and many have experiences with the card being overplayed. A moment of pleasure, a lifetime of soundbites

Typical crap post from some HA anonymous raghead dipsh!t writer who thinks that just because he writes a name in his (her?) article that we are supposed to know the candidate, his party, state, position he is running for, etc. You know, like USEFUL INFORMATION A REAL WRITER MIGHT PUT IN AN ARTICLE!

Allahpuke – you suck as a writer, and I have to wonder why TownHall doesn’t just fire your worthless ass. Your only contribution is to dumbdown HA. (And that is getting harder to do every day.)

earlgrey on August 7, 2014 at 10:18 AM

.
Would you please provide a link to your own blog ? … If we think your work is ‘good enough’, we’ll petition Ed, and/or Salem Communications to put you on the pay-roll.

It backfired on the Chamber. They created permanent enemies. IMHO either the Chamber is buck stupid, or they thought the cause was so lost, they were going up Pork Chop Hill with full bayonets. I am glad the Club did not win. The Club is destroying the party to save it. However, Amish did not perform well. Politics is soundbites. The Chamber will not be swayed, but Amish created ragebites instead of soundbites – entagor at 10:33 AM

I’m not so sure. Amash is following a Ron Paul strategy with his district, a pox-on-both-their-houses stance. That works out well in some districts, not at all in others. Being someone willing to buck both parties starts to increase an incumbent’s advantages over time. Typically, you see someone like RP or Amash survive in places that hold a slim GOP majority but that have lots of working class Dems and indies. You can see the same factors in other targeted GOP congressmen like Broun in GA and McClintock in CA and Walter Jones Jr. in NC. (I mention these three as they all have districts fitting that profile and were funded/endorsed by Ron Paul initially.)

One of the reasons the GOP elite has tried repeatedly to crush these congressman — just as they did in election after election trying to defeat Ron Paul — is they fear the danger of a good example, that GOP pols don’t have to play the crony/warmonger game for profit and job security.

Away, away I say, with these cursed Ronulans and their bastard get! LOL.

It backfired on the Chamber. They created permanent enemies. IMHO either the Chamber is buck stupid, or they thought the cause was so lost, they were going up Pork Chop Hill with full bayonets.

I am glad the Club did not win. The Club is destroying the party to save it. However, Amish did not perform well. Politics is soundbites. The Chamber will not be swayed, but Amish created ragebites instead of soundbites

He was baited with the race card. He would have gained more by ignoring it. The race card is despicable, but talking about it makes the jaundiced public fear a counter play – and many have experiences with the card being overplayed. A moment of pleasure, a lifetime of soundbites

entagor on August 7, 2014 at 10:33 AM

The Club as you call it, party oligarchs would be better, is not destroying the party to save it – they are doing what republicans have done since the 1850s and democrats have done since 1904, supporting an unconstitutional, overwhelming central government, now being bankrupted by its modern welfare/warfare state that can’t be funded by taxes along but must use a central bank cartel and its counterfeit money. Amish did what was needed for the constituents that support him. Calling out the establishment rats for what they are and in fact being rather subdues about it.

Ahem…comrade, that book is not on the Party’s approved reading list. I’d hate to see you placed in a re-education camp over reading counterrevolutionary literature.

I’d say Lincoln was always a died-in-the-wool Clay Whig whose agenda was central banking and expansion of the Union to the plains states, not actual Marxism. Of course, Marx and the Hegelian dialectic were an immensely powerful intellectual influence around the world at the time, something we postmoderns don’t fully appreciate.

Actually, I wasn’t suggesting that Lincoln was a Marxist – although he was pushing line items in the 1848 Communist Manifesto, like a central banking establishment.

I was suggesting as the nonfiction, well-documented (not counterrevolutionary literature) book “Red Republicans” does that all of the leaders of the European failed socialist revolutions of 1848-49 per James Billington’s (Reagan appointee-current librarian of Congress) book “Fire in the Minds of Men” that escaped to America went into the republican party and were influential – just like Hiss, White, Currie, Niles, etc. went into FDR’s dem party and exercised enormous influence. Indeed Marx received both American and German money to create the Manifesto which he actually plagiarized from Victor Considérant’s “Principes du Socialisme” as documented in detail in W. Tcherkesoff’s nonfiction 1902 book “Pages of Socialist History.”

Horace Greeley (founder of the influential New York Tribune) and Charles Dana (Lincoln’s influential Asst Secretary of War and a self-declared communist) rewarded Marx nicely by paying him well for editorials in the New York Tribune between 1850 and 1861.

1. Justin Amash is indeed Arab, but he is an Orthodox Christian. You might want to talk to one or two and you will find that they have an entirely different perspective on America’s endless wars on behalf of Israel. If Amash is lukewarm toward Israel, it is because the vast majority of Orthodox Christians are. If you want to know the reason why, Google and find out who the indigenouse Christians of the Holy Land identify with (Hint: It’s not Israel).

(I used to toe the right wing line on this subject until I found out this salient little fact our government never bothered to tell us. After I learned this to be true, I now side with the wisdom of my fellow Orthodox Christians and the Pope.)

2. Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, are good people in my experience. If you are offeneded at the sight of “Hispanics” flooding our country and changing its make up, how do you think Palestinians felt when their nation was swarmed with Jews who took over the entire country?

3. Right on, Justin! I’m glad to see a Republican fight back as opposed to being a limp noodle.

4. For those commenting on his higher than average voice, if he grew up in an ESL household he grew up speaking another language. Once you become primarily an English speaker, it changes the way you can sound things out sometimes.

I found no fault with Amash’s speech. I didn’t consider it sour grapes or bitter or graceless or suggesting a childish grudge. It was an important political speech which needed airing.

There’s a war going on between crony-capitalist Republicans (along with neocons who want to beef up the NSA until it reaches infinity) and what might be considered an emerging third party in our country, those who hate big government and embrace free enterprise. This third party consists loosely of a coalition between libertarians and members of the tea party mainly.

The crony capitalists fight dirty. That message was pounded into us during the Thad Cochran-Chris McDaniel contest (and in many other instances, of course). That’s how they win. They fight dirty. They don’t use logical argument, truth and transparency; they use dirt and slime.

They tried it again here in Michigan and it didn’t work this time.

In this speech, Amash made the point that this kind of dirty politics is what we in America’s “third party” are against. This turned a victory speech into a political speech, and there never was a better time for it because this was when everyone would be listening. Good for him.

We in the third party don’t have a lot of money, since we don’t support unions or government or big business so don’t get the kickbacks enjoyed by others. We do have truth on our side, though, and anytime truth can be aired we ought to take that opportunity and use it.

IOW, I obviously hit close to home in my description of your threadstalking moderator-wannabe ways and you just can’t take it.

What does that even mean? How so you *stalk* a thread? You said something dumb, I pointed out that your an idiot, and then, because I’m such a swell guy, I helpfully explained with fairly small words how to not to be a douche.

And did you really just accuse me of being a moderator wannabe after clucking your tongue at everyone for unspecified “offensive” comments?

Your knowledge of history is flawed. The land that the Gazans and Hamasians are living on was known as Judea and Samaria. It has always been Jewish land. It has always been governed by the Jews.

Really? Why don’t you try to instruct these guys with your neocon ramblings. They are in a position to know as they are entrusted with the Holy sites, as they have been for millenia.

By the way, the position of the Orthodox Church, one of the four churches (Orthodox, Coptic, Oriental and Catholic) that can legitimately claim to represent an unbroken chain from the apostles to today, is that WE CHRISTIANS are the ones who are the Jews and we are God’s chosen people. The earliest Christians were Jews who recognized and accepted Jesus Christ as the … This is especially true for the Eastern Orthodox Church to this day. That Holy Land is ours.

The people who call themselves Jews today are the ones considered gentiles.

That is essentially what the Eastern Orthodox Churches believe but someone can correct me if I did not word that as well as I should have.

No such thing as justice in the Holy Land, Palestinian Church leaders tell the Irish

Outside the Irish Parliament. Left to Right: Alan Lonergan (SADAKA), Constantine Dabbagh, Fr Manuel Musallam, John Ging, Archbishop Theodosius Hanna By Stuart Littlewood 15/12/2010 “We need only one thing, to be protected by the world against the crimes of Israel” Stuart Littlewood views a recent tour of the Republic of Ireland by a delegation of Church leaders from Palestine during which they described in meetings with Irish politicians the situation in their homeland under Israeli military occupation and the plight of the dwindling Christian community there.

By the way, the position of the Orthodox Church, one of the four churches (Orthodox, Coptic, Oriental and Catholic) that can legitimately claim to represent an unbroken chain from the apostles to today, is that WE CHRISTIANS are the ones who are the Jews and we are God’s chosen people. – EnzyteBob at 11:49 PM

Sounds like the Orthodox still embrace replacement theology while the Pope has backed off considerably from that position in the West.

Around the time that Rome changed its position, it was going through an especially ugly spat with Israel’s foreign ministry over the details of Roman Catholic properties in Israel. It was a Big Deal. The Israeli foreign ministry, via junior diplomats, deliberately created a giant phony problem to resolving this longstanding treaty dispute.

Not long after, the pope at that time embraced publicly a path to salvation via Judaism (instead of Roman Catholic exclusive franchise on salvation) and the treaty matter was resolved as Rome desired. The pope did not promulgate this as infallible doctrine but it seems that the popes are going to hew to this position while reserving the right to change their salvation policy at any time.

You illustrate perfectly my point about this thread.
The main problem is that you just don’t grasp what a ginormous douche you are.

Toocon on August 7, 2014 at 7:38 PM

Protip:

Giving people unsolicited advice of the form “stop being so embarrassingly offensive, you old white male troglodytes” actually makes you a pretty big douche, as well as a bit of a thread monitor. So when no one on the thread listens to this advice, and someone mocks you for it, accusing that person of being a thread monitoring douche that offers unsolicited advice that no one listens to probably isn’t going to win people over.

Aren’t you supposed to be good at winning people over? Isn’t that what your first comment was all about? Winning people over by not being a bunch of trigger-happy old white men?

Would you please provide a link to your own blog ? … If we think your work is ‘good enough’, we’ll petition Ed, and/or Salem Communications to put you on the pay-roll.

Fair enough ?

listens2glenn on August 7, 2014 at 10:40 AM

No, I already have a career and am not looking for a new one, but if your happy with the way the no-name raghead and his idiot sidekick Ed trash the writing principals that every fourth grader in amerika learns – no problem. You’re the reason they can produce this schlock and not get called on it. When you eagerly crave poor quality, you get it.

Typical crap post from some HA anonymous raghead dipsh!t writer who thinks that just because he writes a name in his (her?) article that we are supposed to know the candidate, his party, state, position he is running for, etc. You know, like USEFUL INFORMATION A REAL WRITER MIGHT PUT IN AN ARTICLE!

Allahpuke – you suck as a writer, and I have to wonder why TownHall doesn’t just fire your worthless ass. Your only contribution is to dumbdown HA. (And that is getting harder to do every day.)

earlgrey on August 7, 2014 at 10:18 AM
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Would you please provide a link to your own blog ? … If we think your work is ‘good enough’, we’ll petition Ed, and/or Salem Communications to put you on the pay-roll.

Fair enough ?

listens2glenn on August 7, 2014 at 10:40 AM

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No, I already have a career and am not looking for a new one, but if your happy with the way the no-name raghead and his idiot sidekick Ed trash the writing principals that every fourth grader in amerika learns – no problem. You’re the reason they can produce this schlock and not get called on it. When you eagerly crave poor quality, you get it.

earlgrey on August 8, 2014 at 2:25 PM

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Okay … but the next time I see the username “earlgrey” at Hotair, I’ll remember this post.

We way past the “play nice” stage with the RINO’s in Washington and Michigan. It’s about time that we had a Conservative Republican say what needs to be said! Karl Rove and his group of RINO’s are as big a threat to this country as the Dems!